Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets

[KennethT]

27 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

What's southern Argentina to do with it?

Maybe they love boba tea there?

[Duvel]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Maybe they love boba tea there?

 
Nope. Because the utensil in question is a traditional straw used to prepare Yerba Mate. 

[liuzhou]

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

 
Nope. Because the utensil in question is a traditional straw used to prepare Yerba Mate. 

Think I've seen those made of materials other than metal (of course I'm old).

[Duvel]

4 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Think I've seen those made of materials other than metal (of course I'm old).

I think it might be tricky to fabricate a bombilla without using metals (c.f. here), but I wouldn’t exclude it. Maybe @BonVivant has some insights from his visits to Latin America.

 

 

[haresfur]

9 hours ago, Duvel said:

I think it might be tricky to fabricate a bombilla without using metals (c.f. here), but I wouldn’t exclude it. Maybe @BonVivant has some insights from his visits to Latin America.

 

 

 

I love that they have crazy-straw variants. (Obligatory xkcd, which incidentally applies to eGullet, too)

[liuzhou]

Whether my bubble tea spoon is based on a yerba maté spoon or was invented independently is really irrelevant. Tools have been reinvented over and over by different cultures, often for different purposes. I have a number of teaspoons but rarely drink tea and never use a teaspoon when I do. I could use the thing for many purposes including stirring my breakfast G&T!

 

Given the massive culture of boba tea drinking all over China, it is fair to say that more of these spoons are used in tea drinking than in yerba maté production. Even if only 10% of Chinese tea drinkers use them that is three times more than the entire population of Argentina. And that’s not taking into account the boba tea drinkers elsewhere in Asia and beyond.

 

All that matters here is that the spoons are sold here as being for milk and boba tea and I see people using them every day.

 

[Laurentius]

5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

All that matters here is that the spoons are sold here as being for milk and boba tea

I think they'd be great for milkshakes and smoothies, too.

[Duvel]

28 minutes ago, Laurentius said:

I think they'd be great for milkshakes and smoothies, too.

They are not: they are essntially tiny filtration devices designed to separate solids from a low viscosity liquid (yerba mate / tea laves, and in its non-sanctioned rogue usage for bubble tea / tapioca pearls). If you like to drink a smooth, high viscosity liquid you'll be looking for a large diameter straw that doesn't add addtional pressure loss to your slurping process by an additional filter. 

Edited July 18 by Duvel (log)

[haresfur]

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

They are not: they are essntially tiny filtration devices designed to separate solids from a low viscosity liquid (yerba mate / tea laves, and in its non-sanctioned rogue usage for bubble tea / tapioca pearls). If you like to drink a smooth, high viscosity liquid you'll be looking for a large diameter straw that doesn't add addtional pressure loss to your slurping process by an additional filter. 

 

You could even use that large diameter straw to suck up boba pearls 😎

[Tropicalsenior]

I've only had it once in Chinatown in Flushing, New York. And now I am confused. Is it used for making the tea or drinking the tea? All we were given was a big fat straw. It was a takeout situation so it would be impossible to give everybody one of these large spoons.

Edited July 18 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[blue_dolphin]

1 minute ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've only had it once in Chinatown in Flushing, New York. And now I am confused. Is it used for making the tea or drinking the tea? All we were given was a big fat straw. It was a takeout situation so it would be impossible to give everybody one of these large spoons.

 

In the US, boba tea is most commonly served with a big fat straw, as you experienced.  

[liuzhou]

The straw is used to drink the liquid element and the spoon to pick out the tapioca balls. Yes it is also often served with "fat straws" for those  who choose to suck up bubbles.

 

[liuzhou]

14 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

now I am confused. Is it used for making the tea or drinking the tea? 

 

Drinking.

 

Fat straw are available to go, but it's more of an in-store activity here.

[Duvel]

50 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

You could even use that large diameter straw to suck up boba pearls 😎

Heresy. Please consider that your suggestion might hurt literally more than a billion peoples* feelings, whose bombilla become useless overnight … 
 

 

—-

* or their only true mouthpieces …

[Kerry Beal]

I've seen fat straws with a little 'paddle' on the end - I assume to pick up the pearls.

 

Here

[haresfur]

Bonus thought. Scoop shaped bombilla would be great for drinking/eating your posset.

[Laurentius]

8 hours ago, Duvel said:

they are essntially tiny filtration devices

Not to my eye.  But the straw diameter might not be ideal.  IME, when the suckage becomes too great, the spoonage comes to the fore.  That's what I meant: one tool for both.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Not mentioned however wouldn't this be a simple tool to eat congee with. Suck up the rice gruel and fish out the additions. 

Who knows? Maybe that's a use that hasn't been accounted for 😇 and may account for the popularity of the tool.

Sometimes it's fun to take the piss out of the pompous.

 

 

Edited July 19 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Not mentioned however wouldn't this be a simple tool to eat congee with. Suck up the rice gruel and fish out the additions. 

 

 

It wouldn't work with congee unless the congee was super thin  and then you'd be sucking up  the water the rice was cooked in. (Although the original meaning of the word 'congee' is derived from, the Tamil kañji, did refer to that water.

 

Quote

The water in which rice has been boiled; used as an article of diet for invalids, and as starch.

 

 

Normal 'rice gruel' is too thick.

 

Edited July 19 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, haresfur said:

Btw, I'm unclear from the discussion whether the stores are providing and presumably cleaning the straws or if people bring their own.

 

Both. Some of the many milk tea places in town do supply them, but I've also see people carrying them, usually girls with their handbags.

 

They're not that difficult to clean. Also they are cheap to make (mine cost $1 USD but that was retail) but reusable, saving money in the long term. Non-disposable is becoming a buzzword here in recent years.

[weinoo]

I roasted some peppers today; do many people use a Közmatik?

 

[Laurentius]

5 hours ago, weinoo said:

do many people use a Közmatik?

Not me.  I used to have a traditional gridiron, but now I have a gas grille a few steps away.  Anything I need instant gratification with gets the Searzall.

 

[Shel_B]

This popped up when I was watching some YouTube videos.  Some of these things look like they may be useful for some folks at some time.  I like the carrot slicer and the hand pie maker ... anything appeal to you, even if just for curiosity's sake?

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3lRrkJfnfM8?feature=share

 

 

[Maison Rustique]

10 hours ago, Shel_B said:

This popped up when I was watching some YouTube videos.  Some of these things look like they may be useful for some folks at some time.  I like the carrot slicer and the hand pie maker ... anything appeal to you, even if just for curiosity's sake?

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3lRrkJfnfM8?feature=share

 

 

They look like fun, but if I had them, they'd likely wind up sitting in a cupboard with the other gazillion small gadgets I've bought and never use. Since I'm down-sizing, I've been amazed at some of the stuff I've found stuffed away that I don't even remember buying.